Indiana target Noah Vonleh reclassifies to 2013

Noah Vonleh, a 6-foo-9, 222-pound forward from New Hampton prep and an Indiana target, has reclassified from the 2014 class to enroll in the 2013 class, according to a report from Dave Telep of ESPN.com. Indiana is apparently in very good shape with Vonleh, but the Hoosiers have significantly less scholarship room in that class than in 2014. Still, he may become Indiana’s top target in the class.

More to come.

UPDATE: New Hampton released a statement regarding Vonleh’s re-classification. It follows.

New Hampton School student Noah Vonleh announced today that he has reclassified and is now a member of the Class of 2013. He will graduate from New Hampton School in May of 2013. A native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Vonleh arrived at New Hampton School in the Fall of 2011 and reclassified from his original class of 2013 and became a member of the Class of 2014.

Regarded as one of the top basketball high school basketball prospects in the nation, Vonleh enjoyed a solid first year of play in the highly competitive NEPSAC Class AAA League and followed up with a stellar summer playing for the Mass Rivals AAU program. He also competed in various camps and invitationals, including the Adidas Nations where he earned MVP honors. Vonleh, who originally reclassified to 2014 to gain another year of physical, emotional, and athletic maturity, believes he is ready to make the jump to college.

“When I left Haverhill High after my sophomore year, I wasn’t sure how my game would develop and how much I would mature physically and emotionally,” Vonleh said. “I thought going to 2014 would be the best thing for me as I went off to boarding school and enrolled at New Hampton. My mom and I have continually tracked my progress. This summer we looked at things from an NCAA eligibility status, and it was easy. With one change to my schedule, an English class, I am able to graduate with the class of 2013.”

“I’m ready academically. I’m more mature now in so many ways. I’m a different person and player. From a basketball standpoint, I’m working harder than I ever have. I’ve come a long way physically and emotionally since I arrived at New Hampton. After this year, I will be ready to really contribute to a top program next year. I’m in the gym every day, working really hard now to be ready.”

Vonleh credited his mother, along with AAU coach Vin Pastore and New Hampton School coach Pete Hutchins, for helping him evolve on and off the court and guiding him through the process.

“My mother is a great model for me and she’s helped me make a good decision,” Vonleh said. “I love her and want to thank her for providing me with many things including stability and opportunity, and for showing me how to work hard.”

Vonleh, who will begin to narrow a list of approximately 15 schools in the coming weeks, said that Indiana, North Carolina, and Ohio State have recruited him the hardest. He is not eligible to take official visits until early November when he receives the results of his first SAT. He was motivated to announce his plans sooner than later because he did not want to rush the process.

“I anticipate that it will change the way some schools recruit me, and it will make me have conversations with different coaching staffs about my possible role in their programs,” Vonleh said. “I need to figure out who is interested in me now that I am in the Class of 2013 and where I might fit on their roster and at their university.”

Though Vonleh is now eligible for selection in the McDonald’s All-American game, he made it clear that his motivation to move back to his original class was ignited by a desire to challenge himself. He wanted to take the time to find the ideal college fit.

“I would love to play in the McDonald’s game, but that is not the reason I’m re-classifying,” Vonleh explained. “I’m ready because I have a different approach now. I have a better understanding of what it takes to be a great player and I’m more of a student of the game.”

Vonleh, who only recently turned 17, will now have to count on an already hectic recruiting process becoming more intense. New Hampton coach Pete Hutchins believes that Vonleh has taken advantage of the learning environment at New Hampton, and thinks he is bracing for a terrific season for New Hampton, a school that has won six New England championships, produced six NBA players, and counts four graduates as Division-I basketball coaches and two alumni as top NBA executives.

“Noah is a wonderful kid who really has taken advantage of the opportunities he’s had at New Hampton,” said six-year New Hampton School head coach Pete Hutchins. “He has really put in the work in the classroom and on the court. He showed that he was an incredible talent last year, but he’s come back this year with a new mindset. He’s really transformed himself as a player and I see a level of maturity in him that makes me think he will be ready for success on and off the court in college after this year.”

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83 comments

Is there a realistic way for IU to land Anya and Vonleh given the scholarship situation for basketball in 2013?

It seems to me that Zeller and Oladipo would need to declare for the draft and that Creek would have to not use his redshirt season. Am I missing something in the numbers given our scheduled graduation rate and the verbal commits already on their way for 2013?

There’s also the possibility Sheehey leaves early, Beard, and it’s always possible there could be defections for other reasons. But you’re right in suggesting that it’s a tight scholarship situation again.

Beard, you’ve got it correct. The current roster of scholarship players for next season is @ 14. To add 2 (Anya and Vonleh) and end up with the limit of 13, 3 on the existing list would have to leave. One assumes Crean has a good idea of who and how many might be, but the 3 you mentioned might be the most likely. No one new can sign until next spring when IU knows the status of the current 14.

Wouldn’t go so far as to say a Scoop. I know Crean is operating with the belief that it’s a possibility, but he did the same with Watford and that obviously didn’t happen. He apparently had a strong performance at Adidas Nations, plus he’s now set to graduate in three years like Oladipo. But again, it’s just a possibility, and if the draft were held today I can’t imagine he’d go, but if he keeps building on what he’s done, that could change.

DD…”There’s also the possibility Sheehey leaves early, Beard, …” Is there a reason for this statement? Or is it speculation to get readers excited and re-interested in the blog. Is there substance to it or is it like the Watford/Roth speculation last year? And that certainly brought nothing good to anyone.

If nothing specific,- based on a reliable piece of hard information,- why even bring it up? I do not understand the value of starting another wave of rumors (likely to prove false)regarding who is leaving and who is staying. Certainly not to the players, the coaches, the fans, the readers … (Already started, see Harvard follow up to Goof’s subliminal question to your suggestive thought).

Wang Wang (and one other blogger) also brought up another legitimate issue. Could more attention be given to football recruitment? I read somewhere that Lawrence Central (which just buried Bloomington South) has several prospects IU is interested in; yet, I couldn’t tell you of one because they have never been mentioned in this recruiting blog. Wang Wang and some others (include me) would like to see more balance.

Hold on. I’m not suggesting there’s a possibility Sheehey transfers. I mean there’s a possibility Sheehey plays his way in to leaving early for the NBA. He apparently impressed a lot of people at Adidas Nations, he’s had a great preseason, and there’s a chance he could break out. Combine that with the fact that he’s scheduled to graduate in May, and it’s not that crazy to suggest he could play his way into it. He couldn’t leave early if the draft was held tomorrow and I’m not saying he already said he would declare. But if he has a great year on a Final Four or a title team it’s a possibility, and if you’re asking me how it would be possible for Indiana to get Vonleh and Anya, that would be the most painless way for it to happen.

As for football recruiting, the only reason I haven’t written about Anthony Young yet is that his coach hasn’t returned my calls. And I don’t tend to get into who they’re looking at so much because at any given point in time they’re looking at like 100 guys and have 40-50 offers out. Basketball generates a lot more interest and each offer carries more news value, so I tend to get more into each offer.

Translation: You are admitting this was nothing but speculation by you here (#10) based on no specific actual facts of anything other than you’ve heard he had a pretty good summer and if he plays well and another 100 or so other players don’t play as well, then maybe someone will think about possibly asking him to consider the likelihood however remote possibility of becoming a candidate for showing his potential talents, if he and his parents and family and the NBA and possibly some agents (though it is illegal for him to consider one) ….yara, yara, yara… as I said on first take…disgusting. Even more so now.(And… I had asked absolutely nothing about Vonleh or Anya…)

In fact, I had asked nothing, zilch…just reacting to your inventing the rumor of ‘news’ to feed whatever … Exactly how it was done last year and then, it involved real people, with real issues and real outcomes that were not a reflection of good for any Hoosier.

As for football and why nothing was written on Young (this is not the first time), if I understand you correctly…you’ve made one telephone call that has not been answered, thus all factual research and possible commentary for readers grinds to a halt…(notice, at least 3-4 readers have already done their own research and come up with quite a bit including one video). Besides, you’re not interested in further mining for news on football recruiting because its…well…hard and …too much work…there are…ohhh 100 maybe, so no football recruiting commentary…

OK..got it. I once had an editor who told me…’that’s why they call it a job’.

Tsao – it sounds like he immediately stated that it wasn’t journalism… It was a comment in the comments section, and he clearly stated it wasn’t a scoop. It wasnt even speculation… Just a comment that was a plausible scenario.

At least when I continue to push people like Harvard it’s because he’s pushing back.

TsaoTsuG,is there a reason you’re so bitter? Tired Of sitting at home and no one listening to you? Were you not loved s a child? There’s a reason why you’re not the one writing this blog. This is Indiana, where basketball is first and second, and unless Yeagely’s boys get another star, they’re third too. Since you are so disturbed by someone presenting a realistic scenario, you might want to give up following sports all together.

PS, if this blog focused on IU football as much as you suggest, they would have a total of 1 reader. Keep up the insightful commentary DD. If this dude wants football, he can move to Texas.

Just opinion here, but I believe Sheehey is about as ready for the NBA as Remy Abell. Remy may be a more solid defender, better in the ball skills dept, more reliable going into traffic on penetration, and probably stronger going to the defensive glass.

With the array of rotation options coming up for Crean this season, it might be very difficult for anyone other than Cody to thoroughly impress any NBA scouts.
If some upperclassmen begin to share substantial minutes with those of the incoming “Movement,” there could actually be some digression and lowered perceptions their perceived impact due to greater delegation the same roles. Is Sheehey such a shooting star that he’ll stand out amongst all the new talent? I’m not so sure.

Might also be tough to keep Elston on the bench…He seems to really be coming on now that he’s 100% healthy and his ever-improving outside shooting may be just the medicine needed to validate more minutes.

Tsao,
Beard asked about Vonleh and Anya, so I was presenting a plausible scenario to him. And I can’t imagine the possibility that Sheehey might leave for the NBA if the possibility so arises is going to destroy anything for anyone.
As for football recruiting, I’ll admit I could’ve done better there. But I’ve never suggested this is the very best place to go for football recruiting information. If you’re super-hyped about it, check out Zach Osterman’s work at 247Sports.com (Inside Indiana) or Matt Weaver over at Peegs. Those sites are based around recruiting coverage and consider that a higher priority than the teams themselves. My coverage is more team based with recruiting as a secondary focus. Perhaps that would fit your needs as a reader better than I can.

Have to agree with Chet..The Establishment wants nothing else but this #1 ranking to go to certain kid’s heads, cause division, distract, and create the individualistic concentrations over team focus and camaraderie…These guys should have their sights on only one prize: the completion of resurrecting Indiana and Banner #6. Be humble Hoosiers that work for each other..The rest will fall into place.

We’ll eventually figure it out. The Earth and other planets do rotate around the Sun as part of a whole system. Again DD, despite your fan club’s support, the speculation about Sheehey was more than premature, unnecessary and based on no facts. What purpose it served, I have no idea.

It served the purpose of answering someone else’s direct question, Tsao. Despite your hatred for the NBA, the suggestion that a promising basketball player who is set to graduate in May might want to consider early entry into professional basketball is not a libelous accusation. (And if you have some concern that me suggesting that Sheehey could be an NBA player would somehow get to his head and lead to dissent in the ranks, then you grossly overestimate the influence of this blog and in particular the comment section.)

Also, it’s not new math. It’s addition. I haven’t even used the word “scholarship crunch” yet or suggested that this is even a potential problem. What I’m effectively saying is that if by November, Indiana has 16 players on scholarship for 2013 (which would happen if IU got both Anya and Vonleh) that there are ways of possible attrition that could get Indiana down to 13 without someone transferring or leaving the program because of an academic issue such as Patterson’s. If anything I took the most harmless route of speculation by suggesting that someone might have the opportunity to leave to become a millionaire.

DD-I only agree with you on one issue, the consequences that come from offering more scholarships than available. Huge problem last (recruiting) year and we are evidently back at the same place.

Having said that, the speculation about Sheehey is gratuitous, has no basis other than what is being made up as we go along. If you want to write about CTC continued over-offering of scholarships…fine (actually, I thought I had read you were planning a story on this). But, on Sheehey leaving…at this point, pure and needless fiction. What purpose or agenda it serves, no idea.

That’s the point. It doesn’t serve an agenda. It was an answer to a question. Wasn’t a story. Wasn’t a blog post. I never said Sheehey will leave early. I never even said I think that will happen. I said — when asked by Beard “Is there a realistic way for IU to land Anya and Vonleh given the scholarship situation for basketball in 2013?” that Sheehey blowing up, having an awesome junior season and leaving early for the NBA was one plausible scenario that could allow that to happen. That’s all, Tsao. I’m suggesting it’s possible that Will Sheehey can have so good of a junior season that the NBA might — MIGHT! — want him next year. What exactly is so grossly irresponsible and potentially damaging about that I have no idea.

Dustin…Dustin…Dustin I think, like the old rocker says, you can’t argue with a sick mind. Like you said, all you did was answer a question, and even done it with a plausible way that it MIGHT happen. It was not put out there as, my sources are saying, or in a any way that the accusation of saying something just to drive up the number of readers on here is justified. It almost seems as if his only reasons for coming here is to be able to point out how you should be doing your job differently or to point out, in a very boring sermon like way, how other people that don’t see things as he does are wrong. It seems to me that at one point you basically told him to go somewhere else if he didn’t like how things are done here. I imagine that your boss doesn’t really want you to just come right out and say that to anyone but if there was ever a clear cut case for that being OK it is with him on this one. I come here on a daily basis but rarely comment but this one compelled me to do so. If I was someone that thought he was half as smart as TT seems to think he is and thought you needed to be told how to do your job better (I’m not and you don’t) I would tell you to ban his boring ass, holier than thou, comments from this site.

TT, if DD does such a poor job and if there are as many commenters on here that are as stupid as you try to make them out to be than just go and preach somewhere else. I seriously doubt that there would be more than a couple of us that would miss it. Sheesh, give the rest of us a break already.

In this short announcement about Vonleh the word “emotional” was mentioned 3 times. 15 and 16 year olds do have the emotions of 15 and 16 year olds. But is this mentioned so many times because this young fellow does have some extenuating concern as to emotions?

Vonleh reclassifying to 2013 hurts IU’s chances for him and also hurts the possibility of Ron Patterson being a Bloomington resident. I enthusiastically want them both to wear candy stripes.

After reading all this my thoughts are that I still enjoy football at all levels HS, CFB and Pro, if measured on a ruler, about 1/64 of an inch more than basketball. But I am not so willing for DD to back off the BB interest of this state or IU. Along with the Scoop I supplement my FB fix from other sources. My reasoning is the same for not going to a podiatrist for a toothache.

I would be curious to know the real identity of “Beard.” Is this the blogger’s first visit to the site? I could be wrong on this, but I don’t recognize the screen name and have no recollection of previous posts. Interesting that Dustin didn’t give a “Welcome aboard, Beard” shout-out to a first time poster before answering his/her question..Could “Beard” be Karen from Hoosier Hoopsta attempting to stir up some fiery debates concerning Crean’s habitual tendencies to offer scholarships in considerable excess the allowable number. Or, maybe “Beard” is Osterman. Like Karen, Osterman sports a beard. Osterman was frequently attempting to stir up trouble for Crean when he used to write for the IDS.

Maybe Tsao came at Dustin a bit too hard…I have enjoyed Tsao’s longtime dedication to Scoop. I don’t think he’s anywhere near the “Knight worshiper” our current coach that continually quotes Bobby on his Twitter page and has concocted multiple failed ceremonial events through the AD department to lure the ‘General’ back to Bloomington. Tom Crean has never stopped attempting to cast his name in bronze through the validation of Bobby Knight. Hiring Calbert Cheaney and adding Knight disciples to the bench serving as the most recent example his worshiping of the fine young men that gave their uncompromising devotions to “Jesus of Naismith.”

So, who is “Beard?” I tend to believe the question was not so delicate in innocence as nothing but a simple question seeking a simple answer. This is mini theater, folks. Many of the journalists in this basketball Mecca have worked the beats for many years..They have many friendships that likely pop onto Scoop and various other sites using aliases only the journalist in charge will recognize…(It happens frequently on a Scoop ‘Live Discussion’ during games). I’m not convinced this “Beard” individual is not a card-carrying member of the Establishment attempting to help Dustin during a period of fading reader interest and creating controversy where none exists. Tsao kept this site alive when IU had teams that very few had much desire to chat about. Now that we have a #1 ranked team and on the eve an anticipated momentous season of hoops, the old hypocrites of the Yacht Club wants to cancel Tsao’s membership. I do believe Dustin will keep his chair at the center table. For many, many months Tsao kept Scoop from slipping into a coma…He didn’t run anyone from this blog. He kept the place with faint heartbeat through a faith in Indiana that transcends the popular controversies and playpen habits of the bandwagon pimples stuck on Crean’s butt.

And “Beard” needs a lesson in etiquette. Even a “Knight worshiping’ old senile toad has the decency to thank a busy journalist for promptly responding to a question. I rarely remember an instance Tsao, Laffy, Clarion, Chet, Podunker, Harvard(? Nah) hasn’t acknowledged Dustin with a “thank you” when he takes the time from his exhaustively busy schedule flying Facebook Twitter messages back-and-forth to Korman, Osterman, and Alex Bizitch to answer the trivial concerns his devoted readers.

Maybe “Beard” is just too busy for such small simple kindnesses and common courtesies to the journalist answering his sweet innocent question that resulted in Dustin getting all befuddled, wrapped up, and intentionally buried in a concocted feud this lovely Scoop Playhouse dedicated to nothing other than strategically placed fans(pun intended) and artificial wind.

Thank you Harvard for your understanding of the issue and the consequences of over-offering are troublesome. I agree that much comes from an ‘extended’ period of ‘flagging’ reader interest.

Whether that was the cause for #3, (the only place where DD ‘responds’ to a specific question), speculating on the possibility was the intent addressing Goof’s question in #6 and the tone set by DD in #7, “Wouldn’t go so far as to say a Scoop…”

You Harvard may have thought the same thing in #6 by asking about ‘Florida International, closer to home”…which is what led me to reread the DD-Beard exchange and make the conclusion that DD’s response was not so innocent.

My take agrees with yours that flagging interest and traffic on this blog- (at one point last weekend, I seem to recall, there were hardly any postings over early 24 hours) may have been behind reviving the over-offering controversy.

If anything surprises me, it is the number of posts openly stating basketball is their only interest. It takes me back to the discussion 2-3 weeks ago about Indiana high school football and basketball. For the record, whether some basketball fans understand it or not, one of Indiana’s great achievements despite its agrarian/rural demographics has been the sophistication and wide ranging nature of its sports program. Along with basketball (Branch Mc Cracken, Bob Knight), Indiana has also been a national leader in Olympic sports, including Swimming (James ‘Doc’ Counsilman is probably the most legendary of aquatic sport coaches in history; Hobie Billingsley (equally so in Diving); Jerry Yeagley was not only a leader but a true pioneer of interests in soccer, far and away the world’s most popular sport. Names like James Lavery, Greg Bell and Bob Kennedy brought much glory to IU for its respected Track and Field program.

And, yes, make no mistake about it, I consider anyone who thinks that IU glory can only be achieved on a basketball court between November and March a very poor, inadequate supporter and fan of our great University. Just as I celebrate our Nobel Prize winner Eleanor Olstrom, the world re known Kinsey Institute of Sex Research, the world respected IU Medical School, the Schools of Arts and Sciences (History, languages, Philosophy, Mathematics) and the trailblazing Ernie Pyle School of Journalism which has set the curve in the training of newspaper leaders throughout this country. long made ours.

As a Hoosier, I celebrate all of it. And hold in low regard those who hold that pop-corn and basketball is all we accomplish. And, reject those who come to Indiana from more limited eastern educational establishments who come to Blomington with the idea that both the sun and civilization are born east of the Appalachians.

Yes, I am reasonably sure from reading these and other pages that there are thousands and thousands of fans hoping and demanding a serious effort to make football an equally nationally competitive intercollegiate sport. And, believe we will get there…soon…too soon for their arrogant liking.

But we must also be self-critical. To you who wrote saying nothing beyond basketball interests them reflect the limited horizons (spell that ‘hick’) of their growth experience and a total absence of sports and cultural sophistication bring little honor and contribute even less to our Indiana.

With all that said, nothing but basketball interests me. I see no use for the other sports. Its not limited horizon, it’s just interest. I’ve been to the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Monday night football in Miami, Tampa, Chicago and Denver. I’ve been to opening day Atlanta Braves, Seen the Angles and Dodgers play and more than a dozen Spring training games. Seen the Indy 500 (Drove the ambulance one race) 5 times, Brickyard 400, 12 hours of Sebring and the 24 hour Daytona, Daytona 500 and the old Firecracker 400, Homestead, Sanoma and Incy and Nascar at the old Riverside track and the Indy Miami Grand Prix when it was at Bayfront. They were something to do, don’t really care who won. Basketball I’ll go anywhere to see and watch. high school and college. Hate the pro games. So I’ve tried to experience it but only am excited by basketball.

Dustin – logic and reason are not Tsao’s strong suits. I wouldn’t waste your time trying either with him. As soon as you corner him he just starts name-calling and throwing out weird accusations.

Hilarious to think you’d feel threatened by a day of no comments (in a bye week for football and basketball off-season) so much so that you’d start planting instigation seeds. Like you don’t have enough to do, so you sit around thinking about the right button to push that will create an explosion in the comments section… Bwaahahaha. Next he’ll say that you are Beard and asked yourself that question so you could get out the “unscoop” on Sheehey.

He’s a strange one, full of conspiracies like Harvard. At least Harvard is lovable and self-deprecating at times.

Tsao is lovable…He has shown plenty of understanding. compassion, and friendship toward a multitude of Scoop posters. Hell, you invited him to Happy Valley to share adjoining rooms at the Econolodge. There must be something about the man that captivates your desire to share a beer and a basketball game…Not attempting to drop more speculative fluffy-puff, but maybe you actually would like him as a friend.

I don’t remember Beard posing anything on Scoop…It’s possible, but it’s not a name I have any recent recollection.

This “scholarship crunch” stuff is getting pretty old..Is it really necessary to even speculate all the shifting scenarios in the numbers of scholarships matching up with offers and returning Hoosiers 14 months before the beginning of the 2013 season?

Personally, I don’t care who is ready for the NBA now or next year. Often those decisions are not easy even as deadlines approach. Getting all bent out of shape a couple recruits that decide to reopen their college searches, obsessively worrying over scholly crunches, centering our discussions on guys not yet prepared to decide on candy stripes their uniform of choice, seems, at times, a bit of a disservice and tactical diversion the recognition(not necessarily in terms of national media attention) our honoring those now in uniform that brought IU back to the forefront of college hoops. It is their time because they believed in IU when their were no prima donna one-and-done “dominoes” falling and “floodgates” opening at an IU basketball program that was not very long the favorite mockery those same journalists so kindly recognizing our resurgence. The upperclassman (and let’s not forget Matt Roth, VJ, Pritch, Capobianco, Danny Moore, and all other recent Hoosiers)and the premier center that made “the Movement” possible really do deserve the majority of our time. Why worry about the “crunch” when we have such a wonderful “bunch” of young men that brought us back from the ashes of an envisioned Seth Davis hell; a Twilight Zone cycle of revolving stagnation and irrelevancy they would have loved nothing more than to compulsively shoved down our throats while putting polyester Bobby next to that corpse, Digger Phelps, on ESPN until both are as brittle a pair of saltine crackers?

oops..”It is their time because they believed in IU when there were no prima donna one-and-done “dominoes” falling…”

I’d rather know what kind of toppings Cody likes on his Mother Bears pizza before talking about speculative NBA wet dreams that Geoff is willing(with all the all-knowing, all-encompassing, intuitive wisdom and unyielding certainty a Howard Cosell toupee) to share as a legitimate and perceivable outcome in mystically parallel probabilities with the beliefs of Will Sheehey’s tagalong fan club, personal back-washers, and handlers.

Was dabbling around the internet and found this piece from 6 years ago written by Pat Forde.

It’s a great read and offers a lot of the feelings I share concerning how state legislators destroyed our wonderfully unique and one-of-a-kind high school basketball tournament.

It also gives a chance at reflection on in-state recruiting and the changing tide of interest the top recruits within our borders finally swinging back to Bloomington instead of exiting the state. Much has changed the recruiting picture since 2006. but what is the overall lasting effect the killing of our single, all-inclusive state basketball tournament? How much passion for the game is exiting the small towns that used to live for the chance to play the ‘big boys’ in a once in a lifetime regional or a shot to shock the world a trip to a forever memorable semi-state or state?

I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read this piece on Hoosier hoops. It accurately portrays a passion for a game that flows through our collective veins so eloquently described by Forde.

I wish we could get more of these types of stories from the fine writers covering Hoosier basketball today. Dustin is a superb writer and it seems a bit of injustice his own gifts to be in THE basketball state and get sucked into the vacuum of nothingness and the slipping into the national trite obsessions of counting stars by names rather than digging deep into the many stories down lost gravel roads the true love for hoops in Indiana gone untold. Writers that put their gifts to use are part of the hope in keeping that passion alive….They help keep our pride alive and they become one with Indiana once they find our heart.

I have an idea for Dustin…Pack into a car with Zach Osterman(let Andy and Price hold down the HT fort) and travel around Indiana for a couple weeks to cover the opening weekend of high school games around the state..Bring a camera and do ScoopTalks along the way. Find a story at each sight…Do something unique. Break the mold and immerse yourself into the corners of history and back roads our treasured passion for hoops leading you to delightful unexpected tales with all the humble rewards to be told.

I am sorry Sean but you need to check the recruiting #’s. IU is over committed by 1 for 2013 but has 1 ride available for 2014. Things have to happen to either 2 current players or 2 current commits for there to be a ride in “13” for Vonleh and nothing has to happen for him to have 1 in 2014. I agree CZ can opt for the $ after this season but someone else also(as discussed above) has to leave and that is not a guarantee. This reclassification does hurt IU’s chances for Vonleh(and Patterson)in 2013. It will be Coach Crean’s tough decision to make.

The Establishment works in mysterious ways. They’ll put us on for the shot in the arm their ratings while spitting in our face during broadcasts, pre-tournament print pieces offered up by their stellar journalists turned commentators, and pregame shows featuring the “Silent Polyester One”(Bobby) and the haters(Smith, Davis, and the rest of the Duke, UNC, & East Coast Establishment whores that bathe criminals like Calipari in praises and wouldn’t talk up Indiana if the alternative was sniffing Digger Phelps’ undershorts).

It was all about money. They figured they could multiply revenues when, in reality, they divided interest. They had something that compared to the NCAA Tournament and they turned it into just another high school tourney.

It kind of reminds me of the state football championships down here. For some reason they think it’s a great idea to play the title game in a 50,000 seat stadium with 6,000 paid attendance.

And people wonder why we say Harvard ruins this place. No need to slobber all over himself ONE POST LATER after putting something up.

Like I said………..nothing but an attention-whore…..

And Chet, yes it does “bother you” if you feel you have to attack me for pointing out your BFF, TT, is a complete hypocrite for CRYING about name-calling when he’s the one throwing out personal insults.

Of course, you clowns can’t refute it and just whine “swing and miss”……

“Since I can’t refute what you said, because everyone can see TT did nothing but throw out personal insults, I’ll just throw out lame humor with ‘whiff’ and continue to cry my eyes out how ‘mean’ Laffy is.”